Month: September 2017

﻿ Today's post is about Trento Doc. Trento Doc is holding an event in New York in about two hours and I am helping them with the event, so not an unbiased view but I have been a fan for many years not just the three weeks I have been involved in the project. Trentino... Continue Reading →

With wine tasting season here and harvest underway around the world, there is so much to write about. First though, it is time to take stock, look at the year gone by and note with pleasure all that has taken place in the past year. I am not a religious person but I do like... Continue Reading →

Elisabetta Fagiuoli from the winery Montenidoli is what Italians call “una forza della natura (a force of nature).” She is a strong, vibrant and amazing woman who I got to see at both Slow Wine and Tre Bicchieri in February. The Vernaccia di San Gimingnano that they make and that is in the photo above is delicious, vibrant and nervy filled with minerality, a note of sapidity and of course, a bitter almond finish characteristic of the variety. This wine spends time on its lees and those aromas and flavors are evident in the glass. Montenidoli however is more than a winery but also a foundation and a place of respite. The foundation, named after Elisabetta’s late partner Sergio, the Patriach as he was known, is dedicated to helping others. According to the website, they offer the following,”We want to host, free of charge, elderly people in need of rest…

This week's wine of the week is the Valcalepio Bianco from Cantina Bergamasca from Bergamo. I visited the winery this summer as they were part of the wines I served during a presentation on Lombardy for the Society of Wine Educators. Bergamo is a wonderful jewel of a city, with a Citta Alta and a... Continue Reading →

This week's Wine Wednesday is dedicated to Abruzzo. A region that has seen its fair share of trouble this month with record snow falls, earthquakes, and an avalanche that claimed the lives of guests at a hotel and yesterday, a helicopter crash during a mountain rescue. It has been on my mind all month and... Continue Reading →

This week's Italian indigenous grape variety hails from the Valle d'Aosta and is called Mayolet. It is usually found in blends with Petit Rouge and Oriou Gros. It can usually be found in the DOC wine called Torrette. Les Cretes has a wonderful version of this wine. It also can be made into a monovarietal... Continue Reading →

While September starts on September 1 and my baby’s birthday is in early September, the year always starts slow and until after the 11th, never feels quite right. I was in Italy on this day 16 years ago but the impact that it had on me as a New Yorker, really as a person, remains.... Continue Reading →

This week's winery of the week is Cantina San Michele. They are from Capriano del Colle, a region near the Lombard city of Brescia. I met them this year and found them and the wines very engaging. I also love their graphic identity. The winery was founded in 1980. They are near Monte Netto, which... Continue Reading →

Originally Marzemino hailed from the Veneto but spread quickly to other regions such as Lombardy, Trentino, Emilia and Friuli. The grape is featured in Mozart's Opera "Don Giovanni in this phrase which Giovanni utters to Leporello, "Versa il vino! Eccellente Marzimino!" It is often blended with Barbera, Groppello, Merlot or Sangiovese. In Trentino, it has... Continue Reading →